LAPUSH — A 22-year-old Georgia man who was plucked from a cliff overlooking the waters of Little James Island was dubbed Wednesday as a Twilight fan who let his obsession get out of control.
A news release from the Quileute tribe, which is based in LaPush — where scenes of the fictional Twilight series also are set — said the man, still unidentified by authorities, was looking for cliffs from which characters in the second book in the series, New Moon, go diving.
But independent confirmation of the alleged Twilight obsession were as vague as vampires and werewolves stalking the West End.
Clallam County Sgt. Brian King said he hadn’t heard that the man was a Twilight fan.
King was called to the scene Tuesday to assist the LaPush Police Department, which Wednesday night didn’t return a phone call seeking confirmation.
“What I was told was that he was with a group of college students who were from Georgia and that they were doing a hike down the Pacific coast,” King said.
“I hadn’t been told that he was a fan.”
Only climber
King said that although the man was with a group, he was the only one who attempted to climb the side of the island.
“Those cliffs are shale, so they just break right under you,” King said.
“That is what got that guy into trouble– he couldn’t go up or down.”
Trying to find the cliff-climber for his side of the story — and whether he’s a Twilight fan — was proving difficult.
A dispatcher for the U.S. Coast Guard Station Port Angeles, which sent a helicopter to rescue the man and take him to Quillayute Airport, said that the man’s name could not be released after the case was closed late Monday.
He said it did not say in the dispatch record why the man was climbing the side of the island that overlooks the mouth of the Quillayute River and its dangerous river bar.
Tribal Chairwoman Carol Hatch was in Seattle and unavailable for comment, but said in a written statement that if the man was indeed a fan, it was a troubling occurrence.
“The Quileute Nation has been very welcoming of all visitors to LaPush but does not condone behavior that could result in bodily harm to anyone visiting this beautiful land,” she said.
“We understand the eagerness of [Twilight] fans to seek out every detail that is part of the story, but please remember this is a work of fiction.”
Mum on source
Tribal publicist Jackie Jacobs — who issued the news release that has been the subject of dozens of Internet blogs among Twilight fans since it was issued Wednesday afternoon — said she could not release the name of the source who told her that the man rescued was a Twilight fan.
And she couldn’t reach the person by phone on Wednesday evening for further comment.
Jacobs, who also was in Seattle, said the tribe wants to make sure Twilight fans — known as “Twi-hards” — were warned of the dangers of climbing the cliffs.
“You can understand that getting a call and hearing what happened was very disturbing, so we wanted to make sure and warn fans that it wasn’t safe,” she said.
Cliffs in storyline
In the story, a distraught Bella Swan, the teen heroine, seeks out danger after her vampire boyfriend, Edward Cullen, leaves her.
Each time she does a dangerous thing, she hears his voice in her head. After seeing some of the Quileute werewolves cliff-diving, she resolves to follow suit.
When she dives off the cliffs near LaPush, she nearly drowns, but is saved by her best friend. Jacob, who is a werewolf.
Dangerous bluffs
Although in Stephenie Meyer’s novel the cliffs near LaPush are straight and the water below is deep, the actual cliffs are slanted as they go toward the water and the ocean below is shallow.
When Twilight fans visit the Forks Chamber of Commerce, the organization regularly points out the cliffs’ dangers, said Marcia Bingham, chamber executive director.
“Every time, we say that people should not attempt it in real life,” Bingham said.
“People always laugh as if it is obvious.”
She, too, reminds fans that Twilight is fiction, and there is no real life Jacob Black to rescue cliff divers.
“Stephenie’s books are works of fiction. They are meant to be enjoyed and not imitated,” Bingham said.
“You can live the story in your mind.”
Skeptics arise
Despite the attention grabbed on dozens of Twilight-centric blogs, TwilightLexicon.com, one of the pre-eminent blogs, stated Wednesday:
“It was apparently a 22-year-old man from Georgia. Not that guys aren’t Twilight fans, but is this striking anyone else as odd? We are starting to wonder if there is much more here than meets the eye.”
The incident occurred just days before this Friday’s start of the Quileute Days, which celebrate the tribal heritage and traditions with a weekend schedule of events in LaPush.
During Quileute Days, Solomon Trimble — the actor who plays Sam in the movie, “Twilight” — will be guest of honor.
Trimble does not reprise the role in “New Moon,” which will be released Nov. 20.
But in the book version of the sequel, Sam becomes the leader of the wolf pack — and, incidentally, one of the cliff divers.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
